


A Bene Placito

by FakePlastikTrees



Category: Political Animals
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-07
Updated: 2012-08-07
Packaged: 2017-11-11 16:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/480358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FakePlastikTrees/pseuds/FakePlastikTrees
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fluffy first kiss ficlet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bene Placito

 

 

*********************

 

Susan's started dressing up for their walks. Unintentionally at first. Nothing too extravagant because while Elaine keeps repeating that it's just a walk...well, it's a power walk, and Susan can't power walk in stilettos, but she did try extra hard to keep food off her shirt before meeting up with Elaine. And most days, she succeeds. 

 

More recently, as the walks have slowed down a bit and they've become more about getting coffee and talking than actually walking, Susan can admit that the low cut sweater she is wearing today wasn't exactly purchased by accident.

 

In fact, she bought in order to receive the precise attention she's receiving right about now.

 

Elaine's gaze drops onto Susan's chest for about the third time today. It's fleeting and barely noticeable, but the fact is, Susan can feel it. And this makes her warm all over. Not to mention, it fills her with tons of bravado and she dares to walk up straighter, just in case Elaine wants to get a better look.

 

It's a beautiful early Fall morning and it seems there is no one else in the park but them. And the two body guards keeping a safe distance behind them.

 

Susan presses her cup to her lips and sips slowly. Hot chocolate this morning. With marshmallows. " _I had a dream about Christmas_ ," Elaine had explained earlier as she handed the younger woman the hot cup.

 

"I would want to be called 'Madam Secretary' by my _mother_ if I were you."  Susan exclaims, tucking one hand in her coat pocket as she kicks a small rock out of the way.

 

Elaine laughs at this and shrugs, "I've tried that. It didn't really stick."

 

"I'm not surprised."

 

"But I mean, you seem to like it, would you prefer addressing me as Madam Secretary from here on out?"

 

"I like 'Elaine' a whole lot better." Susan says quickly, meeting Elaine's unreadable expression. She becomes lost in this particular moment so quickly that she doesn't realize they've stopped walking, and it isn't until Elaine speaks again, that Susan finally blinks.

 

"Boys--" Elaine says to the two men five feet behind, "--why don't you go get yourselves a pretzel? We'll be on this bench over here." She instructs them in the direction of a pretzel stand a few yards across the large grassy field and then very gently, very carefully, guides Susan by the elbow towards a nearby bench that sits between two large, brown leaf trees. The brief contact sends shock waves throughout Susan's body and she bites her cheek to keep from audibly reacting. That would be embarrassing.

 

It's a long while of the two staring out at the empty park, with the breeze flowing freely and softly against through locks of carefully styled hair before Elaine asks, almost as an after thought, "Why did you wear that sweater today?"

 

Susan's cheeks turn a deep shade of red almost instantly, but she looks up and replies smartly, "I like the color."

 

Elaine's smile turns somewhat suspicious and she sits back more comfortably in the metal bench. "Really?"

 

"Yes."

 

"It's my favorite color."

 

"I know." Susan retorts with all the audacity Elaine seems to admire in the younger woman. And then, after a long, painfully intense stare down that makes Susan tingle dangerously and makes her so sure that if she were standing, her knees would buckle, she dares to ask, "So, do acquaintances kiss occasionally?"

 

Elaine doesn't seem scandalized, she doesn't scoff or slap Susan, the way originally expected. Instead, she breathes calmly, her chest rising and falling like an easy ocean tide, and her eyes scan Susan's face--she can feel the older woman's eyes sweep every curve and slope of her facial structure, it's unrelentingly intoxicating that feeling, the way way Elaine seems to  be memorizing every single speck visible of her features. For a second, Susan can't breathe and she presses her knees tightly together until Elaine finally says, "With discretion, yes."

 

And god damn her and her dark tinted tone, because Susan's heart is racing at the thought of kissing Elaine. She licks her lips without thinking and once she can manage, she says, "So, in a park, for instance, would be out of the question."

 

"No one is watching." Elaine replies.

 

And then, lacking all sense, thought and place, Susan leans in and presses her lips to Elaine's. It's brief, but Elaine responds and when her lips part a little to greet Susan's forcibly chaste kiss, the younger woman tastes sweet hot chocolate and that Elaine Barrish thing that is just Elaine Barrish. The Elaine Barrish effect, as Susan likes to put it. She feels a shiver that has nothing to do with the chill in the air when she pulls away and Elaine's neck looks flushed.

 

"Well---" says Elaine before she clears her throat and rolls her shoulders back to glance around the park with a look that appears to be somewhat shaken. "Would you like to have dinner with me next week?"

 

Susan isn't sure she can wait until next week for even just the possibility of another kiss, but she'll take what she can get. Nodding a precise 'yes', she says, "I'd love to."

 

 

*******

 

 


End file.
